Retrograde
by ImpatientVirtue
Summary: "There's a lot that's gone on with me over the years . . . I guess you'll just have to find out what all you've missed." more or less a real world take on the Bubbline relationship over the years in retrograde, my interpretation anyway. M for language and suggestive themes
1. Chapter 1

College. Some place Marceline couldn't even begin to imagine herself being at, yet here she was wandering the campus like an absolute fool, and for what reason? Take in the scenery? Actually get an education? If it weren't for this invitation, Marceline wouldn't be here in the first place. She could feel every fucking pair of eyes beating into her soul. _Selfish pricks._

"Hey, can any of y'all tell me where uh, Delphin Hall is?" Marceline called out to anyone who would listen. Nobody seemed to stop. It was the noon hour anyway, so everyone was probably on their way to get a bite to eat.

"Marcy? Hey, Marceline!" Marceline looked around, only to find Jermaine waving her down amongst the crowd of students.

"Jermaine? What the hell are you doing here, in college of all places? I totally thought you'd be off with your brother and Finn doing whatever it is y'all do nowadays," she chuckled lightly as she met to embrace her friend.

"Nah, the whole adventuring and never wanting to settle thing wasn't for me. For all I know, they're probably on the other side of the world climbing mountain ranges, or finding Atlantis, or something. I'm just here getting my masters in philosophy."

"Masters huh? Sounds rough, but I'm proud of you man."

"Oh yeah, it's been a pretty hectic semester this year, but it's all going to be worth it," Jermaine smiled at the thought of having his diploma in hand by the end of the year. "so, speaking of places we'd never thought to see each other, what brings you here? What have you been up to?"

Marceline toyed with the invitation before handing it to Jermaine. "Here, maybe you can tell me why. I have no idea where the fuck this place is, or honestly what this even means. Place seemed kind of cool though, so I guess that's why I decided to check it out."

Jermaine stared at the invitation, "Delphin Hall? Oh shit."

"What, what? Is that bad?"

"Marcy, that's the robotics hall in the graduate school. Who the hell would you know there?"

Marceline looked at Jermaine in confusion for a second. "Uhm, I don't know? Maybe it says so on the invite. I definitely wouldn't think it'd be Phoebe. She was more into blowing shit up and chemistry. Simon's off doing some sort of global cultural study. Says he's trying to find lost civilizations or something."

"This just says that it's an invite to the winter formal that's happening next month. Ohhh, does little miss Marcy have a secret admirer?" Jermaine jokingly teased his friend, but instead was met with a swift punch to the shoulder.

"Shut up asshole. You sure it doesn't say who it's from? The address says the dean's office, but I can't think of any- . . . ahhh fuck," Marceline sighed, finally realizing who her 'secret admirer' actually was, "Bonnibel."

"What? No way! You mean _the_ Bonnibel Taylor, _head_ of the honors society? Oh man, didn't you guys like, date a while back?"

Marceline winced at those words: date, honors society. Smart girl she always was. Date was the understatement of the century. _I gave four years of my life to that woman, almost proposed, only to get fucked over in the end before I even got the chance to ask._

"Yeah, something like that Jermaine. Listen, is there some other place we could talk? As much as I would love to continue talking about my failed love life, the middle of campus isn't really the place to do it. Besides, I'm getting hungry."

Jermaine nodded in agreement and in slight shock at how straightforward Marceline was. "Uh, yeah sure. There's a decent pizza place downtown if you want to head there."

* * *

Jermaine found a booth for the two friends to sit at, and swiftly ordered a few drinks along with a pepperoni pizza.

"Hey, thanks for this man. I really appreciate it." Marceline made herself comfortable in the booth, and took a drink of her cherry cola.

"Anytime Marce. So not to beat around the bush, but what do you think of all this?"

"Honestly Jermaine, I don't know. We didn't exactly end on good terms, so I'm not sure why Bon even bothered to contact me. When we were together, she was always busy with school, work, and whatever else. I appreciated her work ethic, but she never really made time for herself, or us, whenever she had the chance."

The scent of pizza filled the air as the pie Jermaine ordered graced their table. Both friends grabbed a slice and dug in.

"Well that sounds like something you guys need to talk about, don't you think?" Jermaine asked between bites, "I'm sure we could see if she's around later this afternoon, if you want to talk to her."

Marceline shook her head, "Not exactly a good idea. Whenever Bonnie gets invested in her work, she hates being interrupted. Anything of the sort, and she'll cuss the fuck out of you. I mean, I'm guessing she's busy. I don't know what she's been up to besides that whole honors society thing you mentioned earlier."

Jermaine's eyes widened. "Taylor cusses? What else do I need to know about this former lover of yours? She can't be _that_ bad can she? How long has it been anyway since you last saw her or talked to her?"

Marceline held her head. _Too many questions._ She could feel her mind being flooded with memories. "It's been . . . five years. Five fucking years since I've talked to her. What makes you think now will be any different?"

* * *

" _Marceline, I can't believe you!"_

" _Bon, it was an honest misunderstanding, I swear! Since you seemed so busy with your classes and everything, I thought I was doing some good in cleaning up the office so you'd have space to work in the morning! I really didn't mean to lose your paper. I was even writing you something for this weekend! "_

" _Yeah, first you_ 'lose' _it, and then you decide to write over my citations with your fucking lyrics. God, what am I supposed to tell my professors?"_

" _Excuse me? Maybe you should just take a break Bonnie. You've been holed up in your room for the past two weeks driving yourself mad over whatever this is. I'm sure you could just make-."_

" _I can't just make up some bullshit! That took me over half the semester to write, and it's fucking due tomorrow!"_

" _Okay, well can't you find a backup or something? Or look through your notes for a different draft? I always keep my lyrics where I can- "_

" _Oh, here we go again with this music shit. That's all you ever seem to talk about, and how it's going to get you somewhere. You're so insufferable."_

" _Bon, what do you mean? Just let me help you, and we can get this figured out!"_

" _No, you don't get it. That paper you just so happened to lose was my FINAL TERM paper Marceline, and probably my last chance at getting into graduate school. Why can't you understand this?"_

" _Well maybe if you actually TOLD me shit for once, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and none of this would've happened in the first place! It's always work, work, work with you, and nothing else! Do you even fucking care about me anymore?"_

" _Do I even care, do I even care, DO I EVEN CARE? What about you? I might as well just be done with you. Does that answer your question?"_

" _You can't be serious Bonnie. All this over some stupid paper?"_

" _You know, at this point, I don't even want to finish this conversation Marceline. I've got too much to do, and you're just slowing me down. I'm going upstairs. I need to focus."_

" _Slowing you down? Babe, I can help if you'd just give- "_

" _Just GO Marceline. I can't be bothered with this anymore. Take your music, take your lyrics, or whatever the fuck you have, and just fucking go. Maybe if you actually grew up, you'd understand."_

* * *

"Anything's worth a shot Marceline. All you have to do is try."

* * *

 **A/N- Welcome to my new adventure :) hoping this stands a few more chapters, haven't quite decided yet, but till then, see y'all next time.**

 **-IV**


	2. Chapter 2

_Anything's worth a shot Marceline. All you have to do is try._

That line played over and over in her mind like a broken record, yet Marceline couldn't shake the thought of holding Bonnibel in her arms again. Why? _It's been so long; would she really still care that much about me?_

Three hours had passed since the two friends' outing. Marceline was found fresh out of the shower, towel wrapped torso and all. Tiny water droplets still dotted her exposed skin, which prompted a small shiver from the young woman as she walked to the front of the bathroom sink. She let out an audible sigh. _"_ Fuck you Jermaine. Tormenting with my feelings like that . . . FUCK." She laid her forehead against the steamed bathroom mirror, slamming her fist into it for emphasis. A few seconds had passed before Marceline realized the mirror had cracked, enough to where she was now sporting a sizeable cut on the outside of her hand. _Great, what else could go wrong?_

Marceline grabbed some gauze to wrap her hand and left the room. That's when her phone began to ring.

"Hello?" she found Jermaine's voice on the other line.

"Hey Marceline! What's up?"

Marceline laughed. "Oh, you know, just fighting mirrors half naked. The usual, you?" She put her phone on speaker so she could mend her hand and get dressed.

"Whoaa, okay then mama, sounds . . . great." She could hear Jermaine stifling a laugh while grabbing an old shirt to put on. "I was just wondering if you're up to anything later tonight? I'm hosting a party at my place and wanted to see if you'd be interested in coming. What do you say?"

"I'm up for it if you got the alcohol! Who else is planning on coming?"

"Ahh, that's a good question. Well, it turns out Finn and Jake just got back to town about an hour ago from Korea, so I figured I'd whip up some sort of get together to celebrate. Nothing too special. They said they might be bringing Phoebe and whoever the fuck this LSP chick is. Jake's got a new girl too, so I'm sure he'll be bringing her. Maybe other than a few random college kids who will probably show, that's about it for attendance. Sound good?"

Marceline thought for a second before responding. "Sounds perfect. I'll grab some chips or something and be on my way in about an hour, yeah?"

"Great! And hey Marce, try not to fight any mirrors while you're here, alright?" Jermaine chuckled.

"Ha, no promises man. I'll see you later tonight; talk to you then." With that, she hung up and finished getting dressed.

* * *

One hour later, Marceline found herself pulling up in front of Jermaine's house. She turned off her car and began the walk toward the front door. Two other cars were already there, but one she didn't recognize. _Probably Finn's._

"Yo, I got it Jermaine! No worries!" Marceline heard a voice and rushed footsteps moving toward the door following her knock. "Hey! Welcome to the – MARCELINE?" She was met with a lanky blonde-haired fellow who was most definitely Finn.

Catching her friend in a loving embrace, she laughed and smiled. "In the flesh! Haha, hey Finn. How ya been?"

"Marceline! It's been like," Finn counted on his fingers, "two, three years since I last saw you? That's crazy man! I'm good, just been traveling the world with Jake for the last couple months, mostly the middle east and Asia now with his new girlfriend and all."

"So I heard! Mind if I come in? It's a little chilly out here tonight." Marceline could see her breath trail up through the front porch as a small breeze picked up.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah sorry Marceline," Finn replied awkwardly as he ushered his friend through the door, "got caught up in conversation there for a second. Enough about me though, how're you doing?"

"I've been better. I decided to fight my mirror before coming here, but otherwise I'm doing alright." She showed Finn her gauzed hand for emphasis as she sat down by the dining room table. He winced yet chuckled at the thought of Marceline going head to head against a mirror. "By the way, is there anywhere I can set this? Couldn't find any good chips to bring, so I settled on this salted caramel whiskey. Sounded interesting enough." She heard Jermaine's voice pipe up from what she assumed to be the kitchen.

"Salted Caramel huh? Bring that shit over here, and let's crack that bad boy open Marceline!"

Marceline couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. She wrapped an arm around him in a sort of half hug as she walked into the kitchen. "Well shit Jermaine, not even a hello first? Too cute."

"Hey now, I heard there was whiskey and I got excited. Can't help it Marceline." Jermaine grabbed two whiskey glasses from a cabinet, iced them, and poured each of them a drink. "Cheers to one probably forgettable night."

She touched rims with Jermaine and brought the glass to her lips. Marceline was immediately overwhelmed with the scent of alcohol and the sweet taste of the subtle caramel flavor in the whiskey. _Yeah, definitely Jermaine._

* * *

A few minutes had passed when there was a knock at the door. Marceline opened it, second drink in hand, to find Jake and who she presumed to be his girlfriend on the other side. She noticed two or three bags of chips nestled into his arms.

"FINALLY! JERMAINE, WE HAVE CHIPS NOW!" She hugged her friend and smiled at Jake's girlfriend while welcoming them into the house. "Nice to see you Jake, how have you been? This must be the lovely woman I've heard so much about!"

Jake chuckled, "Yeah Marceline, I'm doing well," he ushered to the platinum blonde standing next to him. She had streaks of every color throughout her long hair. "This is Kya Lee, but you can call her Ky or Lady. She understands English, but is still learning on how to speak it fluently." Kya smiled shyly at Marceline and that's when Jake noticed the smell of alcohol on her breath. "Uhm, are you drunk Marceline?"

"Ohh, no no no no." she laughed, "not yet anyway, this is just my second. If I'm lucky though, I'll get to at least four or five tonight."

"Sounds like a great plan Marcy." He set the bags on the kitchen counter. "So, what's the plan for food, or did Jermaine say anything about it?"

"Not so sure, just seems like a bunch of snack food for now. I heard rumors that Finn's going to make a taco run later or something when everyone's wasted though."

Over the course of the next two or three hours, around 10 or so more people showed, including Phoebe and Layne Serenity Parker, or LSP for short. Marceline could be seen walking around the house drunkenly socializing with everyone she saw. Finn had decided to go out and get three trays of tacos from the Mexican shop down the street since the majority of people were getting hungrier at this point. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, laughing and sharing memories. Marceline had just made her way into the kitchen for her fourth or fifth drink when she noticed a slender figure standing by the entryway. Since she was nearly too drunk to see straight, Marceline couldn't make out who it was.

"Uh hey, I didn't hear you come in. You doing alright?" she asked shyly.

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm okay, just a little wet." The figure chuckled and showed off their noticeably wet clothing while walking toward the counter to make better conversation. They pointed toward the glass with a slight look of confusion on their face. "Are you? You seem to be having a little trouble with your drink there." Marceline came to the conclusion that, in the light, the new guest was a woman, and she could see bits of brunette or dark blonde hair peeking through the front of the woman's heather grey hood. She could've sworn she saw tinges of pink as well, but her drunk self couldn't tell the difference. All she could do was smile and laugh as she struggled to pour her drink. Luckily the woman held the glass for her as an added measure.

"Thanks. Yeah, I'm fine. Finn should be back with food any minute now, it's really starting to rain out there, huh? Here, I'll get you something to drink."

"I appreciate that. Finn's here? We were like best friends in high school! What's he up to now?"

"Oh, get out of here! You know Finn too? Last I heard from Jermaine, he's been traveling the world with Jake. This party tonight's for them since they just got back from Korea." Marceline handed the woman her drink. Something about the young girl's voice seemed so soothing to her, but she couldn't figure out why. The woman was about to respond when Finn could be heard bursting through the door.

"Hey guys! I got the goods!" Finn exclaimed to the crowd of people while shaking an excess of water off his jacket. What had started as a light drizzle before had now become a thunderous downpour. Various cheers could be heard as Finn shoveled the trays of food onto the adjacent kitchen counter next to Marceline. Jermaine made his way toward the front.

"Oh, hey Finn! We were just talking about you!" Marceline gestured to herself and her new friend. Finn turned around to face them.

Finn's eyes lit up. "Oh my fucking God! Taylor, no way!" He brought his friend into a warm embrace. "I didn't think you'd make it! How are you?" Marceline froze. _Wait, Taylor? Bonnibel Taylor? Ah fuck. No, no,_ no, _NO!_ She tightened the grip on her glass before slamming it down onto the counter, visibly shaken at her realization, and not caring if her hand was in pain from the impact. Finn's voice piped up. "Uh, Marceline? You okay? Your hand's bleeding again."

"Yeah man," she stammered, "I'm fine. I uh, gotta go, I'm sorry." With that, she left the kitchen, hot tears threatening to fall as she made her way toward the door. Finn followed close behind.

"Marceline, wait! The food just got here! Was it something I said?"

Bonnibel turned and crossed her arms as she watched the distraught young girl struggle with the door knob before finally opening it and slamming it shut behind her. She could feel a sense of guilt starting to come over her.

"Jeez, what's gotten into her?" Finn asked his friend. That's when Jermaine noticed Taylor making her way toward the door as well with Marceline's jacket in hand. He wisely chose not to say anything.

"I dunno man. Must be the weather."

* * *

 **A/N- I'll never figure out why I get such late inspirations, currently one thirty in the morning as I'm finishing this. Oh well, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I appreciate any sort of feedback/favorites and follows. Till then, see ya next time :)**

 **-IV**


	3. Chapter 3

Bonnibel found Marceline sat on the front steps cradling her head in her hands. Brief, silent sobs had wrecked the young girl's body just minutes before. Marceline let out a heavy sigh when she heard the door open and softly close behind her. She felt her jacket being gently set onto her shoulders.

"Mind if I sit with you?" her voice softly called.

Marceline shuffled to make room for her to sit and pulled herself into the jacket. _Your voice could calm the wildest of souls._ "You're already out here. Might as well make yourself at home," she sniffled. Marceline placed her head into her lap as her new company walked to the steps and sat down. Her world was spinning, both from the alcohol and the intoxicating scent of the woman beside her.

Bonnibel pointed out the nearly empty bottle of beer sat next to Marceline. "One of your favorites."

Marceline picked her head up and nodded slowly as she pulled a carton of cigarettes from her front pocket and lit one. "I've got more in my car if you want any . . ." she breathed. "what did . . . what did Finn mean when he said he didn't think you'd make it?" Marceline offered a cigarette to Taylor, who graced the opportunity and took one.

The young girl sighed as she lit the cigarette and took a long drag, watching as the mix of smoke and warm breath trailed out in front of them. "Oh God, it's a long story," she began. " 'Bout two hours ago, I was stuck on a plane coming back from some ambassador bullshit my honors advisor made me go to. The flight got delayed probably because of the storm that's here now," Bonnibel outstretched her hands for emphasis. "I didn't think I'd make it back in time when Finn texted me about the party after I landed."

"Oh," Marceline started as she finished her bottle, "sounds like you're pretty busy then."

"Blessing and a curse," Taylor set her hand on Marceline's knee, who winced in surprise from the small gesture, but didn't immediately shy away. "are you okay Mar?" Marceline tensed up at the mention of Bonnibel's former nickname for her. She quite literally hadn't heard that name in years.

"Yeah, just . . . a little . . . out of it I guess," she stammered before taking another drag of the cigarette perched between her fingers, "to be honest, seeing you again kind of fucked with my brain. That, and," she tipped the empty beer bottle in Bonnibel's direction, "this probably isn't helping either."

Bonnibel let out a small laugh. "That's understandable. I wasn't really expecting to be sort of catching up with you on our friend's front porch at some random ass party. I kind of envisioned us meeting again to be something along the lines of an actual bar or concert or something," Marceline showed a slight smile at the thought of Bonnibel actually wanting to spend time with her after all these years and chuckled as she stood and started half walking, half stumbling to her car. "are you . . . are you sure you're okay to drive?"

Marceline clumsily faced her former and held up the empty beer bottle. "Relax," she said through a fit of hiccups. "I'm just grabbing another beer, maybe . . . maybe two if you decide you want one." Marceline turned back to extend her hand to the young girl, who was unsure of the gesture for a few seconds before she was quickly pulled to her feet by the intoxicated woman. The rain was falling steadily at this point, enveloping the former pair in a mix of water and smoke. Taylor now found herself mere inches from Marceline's face, who had not so graciously wrapped one of her arms around her waist. She could smell the heavy scent of alcohol on her breath as she spoke, "Besides, it's getting cold, we're soaked, and, to be honest, I can't feel my ass anymore."

In the midst of everything, Bonnibel noticed Marceline's other hand had found her own as well, fingers loosely intertwined. She assumed the gestures were unintentional based on Marceline's physical and mental state, but she didn't mind as long as her former was still standing.

"Marceline," she spoke softly as if she were worried someone were watching them from the darkness. "You're drunk, and I'm guessing you'd like to take this conversation elsewhere."

She pulled away from their wary embrace as if hurt from Bonnibel's words. "So WHAT if I am _?"_

" _Soo,"_ she closed the gap between them enough to where their noses met in some sort of awkward flirtatious gesture, when in reality the whole moment was so Bonnibel could sneakily grab Marceline's keys from her back pocket. "Why not do exactly that?" She dangled the keys in front of her face before walking toward Marceline's car. "I'll drive, just tell me where to go." All Marceline could do was stare in awe at Bonnibel's calculated deviancy. _Always gotta be a fucking tease_.

* * *

"OHH MY FUCKING GOD BONNIBEL, I SWEAR!" Marceline drunkenly exclaimed.

"Jesus Christ Mar, it's just a song!" Bonnibel said between laughs.

"Well, YEAH but . . . they've played it like," she counted on her fingers, "five times already! Don't you think OTHER people get tired of hearing the SAME song over and OVER again? Like come on man, even _you_ and _I_ can do better than that!"

 _Twice actually_ , Bonnibel thought to herself, _but obviously no more alcohol's needed for this one_. She played along with Marceline's rant.

"So, are you saying hypothetically we could just call the radio station and they'd play your music?"

Marceline smiled. "Of course! That's exactly what I'm saying; it's much better than this shit they put on the radio. I still write you know."

The two women could be seen driving down the main road killing time and sharing well needed laughs before ultimately ending up at their destination. They had decided on Bonnibel's home after what seemed to be an eternity's worth of confusion considering Marceline was too drunk to even remember her own address despite her multiple failed attempts at giving directions. Throughout the 20-minute drive, Marceline had not so gently downed her second beer causing her car to wreak of spilled alcohol, had started a third, nearly passed out twice, and had yelled at the radio more times than Taylor could count.

"Well, you won't have to listen to it much longer. We're here." Bonnibel exclaimed as she pulled into the driveway. "Come on, let's get you inside," she tossed a bag of clothes in Marceline's direction. "Here, I even got you some new shit to wear."

"What? No fucking way!" Marceline looked into the bag. "A new shirt and hoodie? Shit, you shouldn't have. Thank you."

Bonnibel laughed as she opened the car's door and swung around to the other side to help Marceline. "Didn't exactly have a choice Mar. You spilled half your beer on the way here," she hefted the intoxicated woman out of the car and placed Marceline's arm across her shoulder. "Come on, we gotta get you cleaned up."

About an hour had passed. Marceline was sitting at the island, hair still damp from her shower, in Bonnibel's kitchen. She had mostly sobered up and was eating some chicken and rice her former had made earlier in the day.

"You didn't have to do this Bonnibel, really," Marceline said between bites, "especially the clothes. Like shit, this hoodie? Oh my God, it's so soft, thank you again."

Bonnibel turned on her heels and walked toward the young girl with two drinks in hand, nonalcoholic this time. "It's the least I could do. I mean, you weren't exactly careful with your beer on the way back."

Marceline chuckled. "What? Was I really that bad?"

"Ohh yeah," Bonnibel started as she set the drinks down in front of them, "you were. Thank God we took your car and not mine. Those stains and shit don't come out easy, let me tell you." Bonnibel made an attempt to change the subject now that Marceline was mostly sober. "How's your hand by the way? I noticed it was wrapped up. What'd you do to it?"

"Well, it sounds like you just signed yourself up to help me clean my car in the morning!" Marceline teased. "My hand? Oh, funny story actually. I went out to lunch with Jermaine earlier today and after I got back, I-" That's when she noticed lines of ink peeking out from underneath Bonnibel's sweatshirt as the young woman leaned on the island in front of her. "Wait, wait, wait, whoa, hold up. Bonnibel Taylor, you . . . you got a tattoo? How come no one ever told me that happened?"

"Correction," she laughed, " _six_ actually. There's a lot that's gone on with me over the years," Bonnibel stood and sauntered in the direction of the bathroom, turning away from Marceline and removing her hoodie and shirt as she did so. Her bare back as well as the ink that flowed up her arm and trailed down her left side were now exposed. She blindly tossed the ball of clothing wrapped around her hands in Marceline's direction, who was now scrambling to pick her jaw up off the floor. Luckily Bonnibel was still turned away, so she couldn't see her taken aback expression. _Holy shit._ Y _ou've got to be kidding me._ "I guess you'll just have to find out what all you've missed."

* * *

 **A/N- *claps hands together* WELP! time for a walk down memory lane, don't you think? As always, any feedback, favorites, or follows are greatly appreciated. :) Till then, see y'all next time.**

 **-IV**


	4. Chapter 4- Part I

**A/N- SO! Just a bit of housekeeping here before we get started. First of all, thank you THANK YOU all for the follows, favorites, and reviews. I greatly appreciate every single one of you who take the time out of your day to this story. Thank you! Second, as I mentioned in the previous chapter, we'll now be heading down through Marceline's and Bonnibel's past, mostly focusing on them as individuals during their 5-year parting. Third, I'll *probably* be splitting this chapter up into two parts for the sake of keeping reader interest and not boring you guys with an abhorrently long segment of these two's relationship. This first part will be a tad longer than my usual chapters, but also a little more lax (years 1-3), with the second being a tad more** _ **dramatic**_ **per se (years 4 & 5) in terms of their past. So, with that all being said, let's hop on into the memories! (OH, the format will probably be a tad different in places, i.e. text conversations throughout, just a fair warning) Enjoy!**

* * *

" _I guess you'll just have to find out what all you've missed."_

 _Apparently, I've missed quite a bit_ Marceline thought to herself as Bonnibel continued up the stairs to the bathroom to take a shower before calling it a night. She decided to take this opportunity to look at everything Bonnibel had hanging on her walls in the living room. Marceline set their dishes into the sink before taking in the sights. Typical family photos, some vacation shots, various diplomas, and awards adorned the majority of one wall. _Jesus, didn't realize she had so many of those things._ She moved to sit on the couch where her other set of clothes were and dug out her phone. Two missed calls from Finn, one from Jermaine, and too many texts to count. Marceline could hear melodic guitar riffs coming from the second story. _Metallica . . . well then._ Her phone began to buzz.

 _ **Jermaine: Marceline! You good? Where'd you run off to? Finn's been mad upset man**_

Marceline quickly typed out, _yeah man, don't worry bout it. I'll take care of Finn tomorrow._

 _ **Finn: Marcy I'm so sorry for whatever I said wrong, forgive me?**_

"God Finn, you're so innocent." She decided to leave that message for the morning. Marceline checked all her pockets for anything else she might've left and found the now crumpled dance invitation stuffed into her back pocket. _Damn it, thought I left that at home._

"Everything alright Mar?" Bonnibel's voice spoke up from behind.

Marceline jumped at her new company and quickly jammed the invitation back into her pocket. "AH JESUS FUCKING HELL BON!" she gasped out. "You scared the shit out of me!" Marceline slumped down into the couch, covered her face with her jacket, and let out a disgruntled sigh that then turned into a laugh before sitting back up.

Bonnibel laughed as she turned to the front of the couch and sat down next to her guest. Her hair was up in a messy bun, still damp from her shower. "I guess I'll just have to wear a bell next time then! How're you feeling?"

"Well besides the mini heart attack you just gave me, I'm feeling better . . ." she sighed. "Metallica huh?"

"Shit, you heard that?" Bonnibel sat back. "Sorry, didn't think it was that loud."

"Oh no, it's okay. They're one of my favorite bands, remember?"

"Mm . . . yeah, I remember," she yawned, "you got us tickets that one year to one of their concerts."

Marceline nodded in agreement. She could see that Bonnibel was beginning to get tired; it was almost one in the morning after all. She placed a hand on her knee. "Hey, are you okay? Not to be rude or anything, but you look like you haven't slept in months."

Bonnibel chuckled as she grabbed a blanket from the end of the couch and tucked herself up onto the cushions. "Oh lord, you have no idea Mar," Marceline had a look of interest as she too settled into the soft cushions, allowing for Bonnibel to lean into her for support and comfort.

Marceline fixated the blanket to cover the two of them as Bonnibel continued. "Graduate school, honors bullshit, finals coming up. Hell, I've even got shit happening soon from the army way back when. God, where do I even start?" _Military . . . and school? Good God woman. No wonder you're tired._

"Wait, what? Army?" Marceline questioned, hints of worry in her voice. "Explain please."

Bonnibel chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm retired now. I joined the summer after undergrad, got recruited as a logistics officer. Nothing special really." She held up her arm and pointed to the pattern etched near her elbow. It was a detailed depiction of an octopus. "I got this for a pretty close battle buddy of mine we lost a year after he deployed overseas."

"Fuck," Marceline breathed, "I'm sorry Bon. How long were you in?"

"Three years. Three long years. Made some good memories, picked up some bad habits, and developed lasting friendships, but one thing's for certain: I definitely don't miss the food . . . stereotypical of me to say that, but it's true."

Marceline laughed at Bonnibel's last comment, appreciating her notion to lightening the mood. "Well, either way, I'm proud of you. I mean . . ." she shied away, "I know I was pretty distant after our breakup . . . I'm sorry I wasn't there for you more." Marceline traced her former's arm and pointed out the rose adorning her bicep. "Those always were your favorite flower."

Bonnibel placed her hand atop Marceline's and smiled. "Momma's too."

"Does she still make them double chocolate chip cookies like she used to? God, I could eat a dozen of those right now if they were here."

"Yeah . . . something like that," Bonnibel shifted her position. She had let her hair down and was now gently nestled into Marceline's shoulder. Something about that subject must have not settled well, so Marceline decided to leave the rest of that conversation for the morning. "I guess I haven't properly asked, remind me what happened to your hand?"

Marceline chuckled. She decided to take this as an opportunity for her hand at storytelling. "Well, a few weeks ago, there was this dragon okay? Now, this dragon was a total dick and was threatening to burn this old man's barn down, you know?"

Bonnibel nodded slowly. "Uhhh . . . huhh, go on . . .?"

"So," she began to laugh in the midst of her story, "one day . . . one day, I decided to go over to that asshole of a dragon and tell him 'HEY! BACK THE FUCK OFF from that barn you, you little shit! I went right up to that stupid dragon and punched him straight in the face."

At this point both girls were laughing hysterically at Marceline's story. "Oh really?" Bonnibel asked between chuckles. "What happened after that?"

Marceline sat up to finish the story, wrapping her arms around Bonnibel on occasion as she spoke animatedly. "The dragon was all like, 'Oh shit, this chick ain't playing!' and left after that to go terrorize some other barn. Unfortunately, I get to sport this monstrosity for the next few days because of that asshole's fucking tooth. A tooth! I mean, how ridiculous is that?"

"Well Mar," Bonnibel looked up into the young girl's eyes and spoke softly, "about as ridiculous as your storytelling, but I enjoyed it nonetheless."

* * *

Marceline awoke to Bonnibel fast asleep in her arms. _Even when you're asleep, you're still fucking perfect._ She wrapped the blanket tighter around them and felt her former shift from underneath. She could've sworn she saw a small smile form on the sleeping girl's face as she grabbed her phone to check the time. _6am._ Marceline squinted to see that she had received another text from Jermaine roughly two and a half hours prior.

 _ **Jermaine: Sounds good, party just got over. Probably gonna be up all night cleaning… did Taylor go with you? None of us saw her after you left.**_

 _More like I went with her,_ she typed, _we took my car to her place so I could sober up. I'm staying here for the night. Did you know she was in the army? Holy shit!_

A few minutes passed before her phone buzzed.

 _ **Jermaine: Yeah, logistics. She's got a ton of stories to tell, deployed twice. Should ask her bout them sometime. Have you talked about the dance yet?**_

Marceline sighed as she gently pulled the invitation from her back pocket before responding. _Fuck man, you're still up? Must've been a rager… and trust me, I still got a lot to catch up on with her. I'll let you know how it goes later on, bout to pass out again._

 _ **Jermaine: Aight, sounds good. I'ma try to get some sleep. Talk at ya then.**_

As she set her phone on the table beside her, Marceline traced over the invitation's intricate writings and crumpled edges with her finger. She looked longingly at the sleeping girl curled up within her arms. _So not ready to talk about this with you._ Within minutes, Marceline had briskly fallen asleep.

Two hours passed since Marceline's text conversation with Jermaine. Bonnibel woke to Marceline's right arm loosely wrapped around the small of her back, with her left outstretched past her head. She shifted slowly as not to wake her sleeping guest. Taylor affixed the blanket to cover her before standing and stretching. That's when the invitation set on the edge of the table caught her attention. Bonnibel yawned and rubbed her eyes before inspecting the cardstock.

 _Good to know you got it_ _Mar._

She moved to the kitchen, invitation in hand, and poured herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge before deciding to make bacon, waffles, and eggs for the two of them. Taylor was about 15 minutes in when she heard quiet footsteps followed by a yawn from behind her.

Marceline sat herself at the island for a second time. "Whatever you're making smells fantastic."

"Hey, morning Mar. Sorry if I woke you; I tried to be as quiet as I could. You sleep okay?" Bonnibel handed her a freshly made mug of coffee.

"Like a rock," she chuckled as she took a sip of the coffee. "And yourself?"

Bonnibel smiled as she moved to place a plate of bacon on the island. "Well you apparently still make for a good pillow. I haven't slept that soundly in months. Scrambled okay? I couldn't exactly remember how you like your eggs. Waffles will be done in a minute or two."

"Oh damn, look at you being a gourmet chef! Everything sounds great Bon, thank you." Marceline grabbed a piece of bacon before continuing. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, you mentioned cleaning your car out last night, so we can do that after we're done eating, and I've got an appointment with my advisor at noon, and I'll probably have to have you take me to Jermaine's to pick up my car. Otherwise, I'm free in the afternoon if you'd like to do anything." Bonnibel sat down beside her guest with two plates of the waffles and eggs and handed a pair of silverware to Marceline who had a look of slight interest on her face. Bonnibel shied away. "I mean, we don't have to. It's just an idea."

"No, that's perfect Bon," Marceline loosely held Taylor's hand for reassurance. "I'd love to."

* * *

Twenty minutes and two clean plates later, both women could be seen sharing a conversation on what to do later in the afternoon.

"What about a movie? I heard there's this really good science fiction title that just came out last weekend." Marceline inquired with Bonnibel.

"Science fiction, hm? Never really thought of you to be into that kind of genre."

"Well, one pretty amazing woman got me into it a few years ago. Turns out, it's a great subject to cover."

Taylor lightly blushed at Marceline's fully implied comment. A feeling of warmth enveloped her body, thankful that no resentful feelings were shared between the two, at least for this moment. "Sounds great then Mar. I'll leave it to you to find a time, and we'll go." She moved to take the plates and glasses to the sink. She gripped the sink's edge and sighed as she noticed the furled cardstock on the back of the counter

Marceline moved from the island to Bonnibel's side. She spoke up, "You okay?" Within seconds, the invitation was returned to the recipient's hands. _Damn it._

"I found this on the table when I got up earlier. Kind of figured it was yours. It's okay if you don't want to go, I was ju-"

"Bon, relax," Marceline placed a hand on her former's shoulder. "I'd love to go with you."

Bonnibel was quick to turn around and move to the couch, Marceline following closely behind. She motioned for her guest to sit

"No Mar, you don't understand," Taylor began.

"What do you mean? I would love to go to this dance or whatever it is with you, just why choose me and not someone else?" She could feel tension building between the two of them.

Obvious hurt could be seen in Taylor's eyes. She took a deep breath and looked longingly at Marceline. A sense of concern overwhelmed the older of the two.

"You know I still love you right?"


	5. Chapter 4- Part II

Marceline's eyes widened. "You're . . . you . . . I di- . . . WHAT?" Taylor could see Mareline's eyes beginning to well up with tears.

"I'm sorry," Bonnibel sighed, not exactly knowing how to take in her former's response, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Marceline stood away from Taylor, visibly upset. "IT'S BEEN FIVE FUCKING YEARS! HOW THE - . . . " she breathed in deeply, resting her fingers on her temples as she faced her former, "no, I'm sorry. Yelling isn't . . . isn't gonna get me anywhere. Just please tell me this isn't some sort of fucking sick joke Bonnibel. Please." Tears were now steadily falling from Marceline's eyes as she slumped against the living room wall and placed her head in her lap.

"I can assure you it's not, but maybe I should just-"

"NO," Marceline interjected. Her breathing hitched as she continued, "I'm . . . I'm fine," she sighed out. "An explanation as to why in the FUCK you're telling this to me now would be fantastic though." Bonnibel moved to where she was sat on the floor in front of Marceline.

"I . . ." Taylor took a deep breath before continuing. "I was afraid Marceline . . . I was so fucking afraid because I never stopped loving you . . . to be honest, you're handling this a lot better than I thought you would."

Marceline looked up in shock. " _What_? No, no, no, go back. _Never_ stopped loving me? Explain Bonnibel."

The young girl sighed deeply. Thousands of thoughts and memories alike were flooding her mind all at once. _If you only knew._

* * *

" _Take your music, take your lyrics, or whatever the fuck you have, and just fucking go. Maybe if you actually grew up, you'd understand." Bonnibel knew she was going to regret that last line as she was faced with a now silent and somber Marceline. "Fuck Mar, I'm such an idiot. You know I didn't mean that."_

" _Yeah, sure." Marceline's breathing hitched slightly as she grabbed her guitar and moved for the door. "You've said enough Bonnibel, see you 'round."_

" _Marceline, wait!" Taylor stood and attempted to stop the young girl from leaving, yet to no avail as she was met with Marceline closing the bedroom door behind her. Any words Bonnibel said after that fell on seemingly deaf ears. She knew what she said was wrong. She knew she was going to regret those words till her last breath._ There's no use fighting it, _she thought to herself as she slid down the door and held her head in her hands,_ not now. _Silent sobs began to overtake the young girl's body as she realized the gravity of what had just happened. Unbeknownst to Taylor, her former remained standing on the other side shedding tears of her own._

" _God, what have I done?" Marceline heard her say before turning for the stairs, fighting every urge to burst through that door and hold the broken girl in her arms one last time._

 _She sighed as she exited through the front door and headed toward her car. "It'll be okay Bon. I promise."_

* * *

"It wasn't easy Mar. After all that happened, I shut myself out. I blamed myself for everything, I locked myself in my room, I rarely ate or drank. God, I lost so much weight." Marceline wore a somber expression, but silently urged her former to continue. Bonnibel sighed as she fought back tears, but to no avail. "Over the next month or so, I worked on myself. I started to run more, become healthier, do whatever the fuck it was that newly single women do. Two weeks later, I decided I had enough and went off to sign my soul to the army since I knew graduate school wasn't going to work out at the time." Marceline had a pang of hurt in her eyes knowing she played a role in Bonnibel's seemingly failed chances at her schooling. That obviously wasn't the case anymore. "Sorry, sorry," Taylor moved closer to the young girl. "I don't mean to make this sound like such a pity party. I'm sure it was hard on you too."

Marceline nodded slightly in agreement, not wanting to elaborate on her past just yet. "Yeah, it was, but I got through it. Looks like you did too." She outstretched her arm so that Taylor could move in next to her, to which Bonnibel happily obliged and nestled into her former's shoulder. "You remember those nights where we'd sit in front of the fireplace and find some ridiculous thousand piece puzzle to put together? Maybe get drunk off our asses here and there?"

Bonnibel chuckled as she regained her composure. "Of course I do. I always out drank you and would have to finish the puzzle myself because you'd pass out within twenty minutes. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Marceline laughed as she reminisced on the countless nights that shamefully happened. "how about after we clean out my car and get yours back from Jermaine, we do that instead of going to the movie tonight?"

"I'd love that. Of course, as long as there's alcohol involved." _You know me so well Bonnibel._ She looked at her watch and realized how quickly time had flown by since the beginning of their conversation. Only one more hour before Bonnibel had to be on campus for her meeting. "Just let me change and get this advisor meeting over with, and we'll make a day out of it."

* * *

Three hours had passed since the two had left for Bonnibel's meeting. Marceline could be seen outside her home vacuuming her car's carpet. In the meantime, she texted Jermaine and asked if he could drop off Bonnibel's car at the university to which he obliged. Within minutes, she heard the sound of a car engine coming up the road and pulling into the driveway.

"Well damn," Marceline began as she moved around to open the car door for her former. "First you impress me with your tattoos and Metallica, but now this?" Bonnibel laughed as Marceline took in fully what she was seeing: a brand new jet black HSV Gen-F GTS with nearly matching deep red rims and interior.

"Military has its perks sometimes," she replied simply.

"Sure as hell looks like it. Welcome home by the way. I started on my car while you were away if that's okay, was thinking of washing it but it might be a little too cold for that shit."

"Well first, thank you, that meeting killed me. Second, of course it's okay. Third, the fuck you mean? OH," Bonnibel interjected as she popped the trunk. "I hope you don't mind, but I did a little liquor store run."

Marceline moved to see Bonnibel's trunk absolutely filled with various liquors and cases of beer. " _Little_ seems to be an understatement there Bon. Holy shit, how much did you get?"

Ohh, enough," she smirked. "Come on, let's get some buckets so we can get this shit sparkling before it _actually_ gets cold."

* * *

"It goes here doesn't it? GOD DAMN IT, WHY DO THESE THINGS NEVER GO WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO?" Marceline yelled as she tried to force another puzzle piece into where it so obviously didn't belong. It was now well into the night. The two women could be seen working on a large puzzle, sharing words and drinks alike.

"Because that's not how puzzles work Mar. Here," Bonnibel said as she reached for the piece and put it in its proper place. "See? Not so bad, we're getting there." The young girl stood to stretch aching muscles and to get another bottle of beer, maybe take a shot or two. "Want anything while I'm up?"

"A beer would be fine, thanks. How long have we been going at this puzzle anyway?"

"An hour. New record for you, I'm actually impressed." Bonnibel handed Marceline her drink and found a seat next to the young woman. They laughed. Taylor had to admit, she genuinely missed these kinds of moments with Marceline. She was glad.

"Already? Well, at least we're almost finished." Marceline smiled as she placed another piece into the puzzle and turned to look at her former. "You know Bon, I've really missed this." _Finally someone said it._ Marceline stood and moved toward the kitchen as she took a drink of the beer in her hand. "I'm feeling like a shot to go with this. Take one with me?"

 _Thank God for a change of subject._ "Look at you mixing alcohols and shit. What are you thinking this time?"

Marceline smiled as she showed a bottle of Jack Daniel's to her former. "Straight. You chase it, and your ass takes another. We go till one of us chickens out . . . or passes out. Whatever comes first."

"Oh, this is a challenge now?" Bonnibel stood and stripped off her sweatshirt as she moved to her former, poured herself a shot, and proceeded to take it unphased. "Alright, I'll play, but if I get shit faced after this, I'm so blaming you."

Marceline had a look both of shock and pride as she took in what just unfolded in front of her. All Bonnibel could do was laugh. "Well shit . . ." she stifled out a laugh, "guess I have the night cut out for me."

Seven shots between the two later since Taylor's first, and Marceline could find herself barely able to stand. Bonnibel on the other hand _seemed_ to be keeping her composure.

"Remember Mar, you chase it and you take another." Bonnibel reminded her former as she took another drink.

Marceline slammed her fist into the counter, "DAMN IT, who the HELL came up with these rules?"

"That'd be you Mar," Bonnibel laughed at Marceline's alcohol induced rage. "Am I right in hearing the sound of defeat?"

"All right, you got me this time Bon. I give in," Marceline responded as she took a drink of her chaser. "The army sure did teach you how to hold your liquor."

"Not exactly, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're just a little rusty." She couldn't tell if it was the alcohol playing with her mind, or if it was the reality of who was in front of her, but Bonnibel found herself staring at her former, almost lovingly. Marceline took note.

"And I'm guessing the alcohol is starting to get to you as well. The Bonnibel I knew would never look at me the way you are now, unless of course she wanted to kiss me," Marceline laughed before continuing. "OR dare I say, _fuck_ me."

Taylor shied away not knowing whether or not she should be impressed at Marceline's accuracy or embarrassed. "Ha, I . . . I . . . no," Bonnibel stammered out. "What gives you that idea?" She mentally slapped herself for that line. _Your FACE you IDIOT!_ Bonnibel tried to turn and make her way back to their now long forgotten puzzle, but found Marceline holding her back. In one fell swoop, Marceline had without fail nearly closed the gap between the two young women.

She smiled as their noses touched. "Don't torture yourself Bonnibel," Marceline took this as an opportunity to complete the connection through a heartfelt kiss. Bonnibel's world stalled to a halt in that moment, but deep down, she hoped it didn't have to end. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled away still completely taken aback at Marceline's actions. "There's no need for that anymore."

* * *

 **A/N - Alright, pitchforks down. First, thank you for y'all's patience. College and life decided to slap me in the face harder than I expected, so I apologize for the delay. I started writing this soon after I posted the second part back in January, but now as we know, it's nearly March. I originally intended to have more in this chapter, but not having been able to touch this story for so long, that didn't exactly go to plan, so this chapter probably feels a little rushed at the moment. I may even end up doing a rewrite of this chapter if I end up hating it enough. Such is life. By the way, HSVs are pretty neat cars :) I like them. As always though, any feedback, follows, and favorites are appreciated. Till then, see y'all next time.**

 **-IV**


	6. Chapter 5

**baby a/n: possible (subjective) nsfw content toward the end**

* * *

"You did _WHAT?!"_

Jermaine could be heard audibly confused at what Marceline just told him. She was quick to cross the table and shush him as a response since no one in the restaurant would probably want to hear of her little _excursion._ Marceline had called and asked Jermaine if he had wanted to meet up for the afternoon, to which he happily obliged. Both were seated at the downtown pizza parlor that they had eaten at previously.

"JERMAINE!," she whispered loudly, " _Shut it!"_ Marceline shifted back into her seat. "Do you think _everyone_ should know that I fucked Bonnibel last night, or what?" She took a swig of her beer as her face began to noticeably turn red.

"Well if they didn't then, they do now!" He joked, "Relax Marce, it's natural. I'm just surprised things escalated that quickly between you two."

She scoffed, "Ha, you and me both man."

"What exactly happened the night you guys left? You made it sound like she was just gonna help you sober up and that was it," he paused, "you . . . can spare me the details of last night though."

Marceline sighed as the food they had ordered a few minutes before was presented at their table. She thanked their server and took another drink before starting in on her story.

"Well, shit. To be fair, I wasn't expecting to be spending an extra night at her place either but," she paused, "that next morning after the party, she said she still loved me and explained all the shit that happened to her after we broke up. I couldn't just leave her after that man. I was . . . shocked, you know?"

Jermaine nodded as he took a bite of his slice of pizza. "Yeah I totally understand how-," he nearly choked when he realized what Marceline had said, "wait, she told you she still loved you?"

Marceline chuckled as she shoveled some pasta into her mouth, "Nice to know you and I had similar reactions."

"Holy shit, that's fucking crazy. Did you at least talk about the dance with her?"

"Not specifically," she responded, "at least not yet. But that's what sort of led to everything that happened yesterday."

Jermaine cocked his head to the side out of curiosity. "But wasn't she gone to that advisor thing all day?"

"Yeah. Well, for the morning, but after that I guess we kind of relived our past," she began, "we made actual plans for once since . . . since ever. We laughed, we drank, we put together a fucking puzzle for Christ's sake."

"Sounds like you guys may be on the mend then," Jermaine gathered, "at least that's what it sounds like to me. I don't know how you feel about it though, but I'm guessing since y'all . . ." he motioned his hands to mimic what he believed to be last night's events were. Marceline glared at him. "Never mind." He attempted to awkwardly laugh his way out of that mess.

"For your sake, I'll pretend that didn't happen since we're still out in public, but," she breathed, "I don't know. Everything yesterday felt so _natural._ It felt like home."

* * *

A few hours had passed after Jermaine and Marceline's outing. She was currently occupying herself by cleaning her apartment's kitchen all the while listening and singing along to Disturbed's cover of _Sound of Silence._ Marceline was caught off guard when she heard a series of knocks at her door.

Marceline paused her music and opened the door to find her former on the other side. "Oh, uhm," she spoke shyly, "hey Bon."

Bonnibel wasn't sure how to take Marceline's response. "Whoa, hold your enthusiasm there Mar," she stated sarcastically, "I just thought- never mind," she started to turn away, "I can go if you-"

"Nono," Marceline responded as she touched Taylor's shoulder, "no, it's okay. Sorry, I just wasn't expecting company tonight." She took Bonnibel's hand and turned to welcome her in. "Come in."

"Nice place you got here Mar," Bonnibel started as she walked into the small apartment.

"Well, it's definitely not like yours, but it's cozy," she responded simply before continuing, "if you don't mind me asking though Bon, how did you get my address?"

"To be fair," Taylor chuckled, "you don't exactly change locations that often." She pulled the leftover dance invitation from her back pocket, "besides, we still have this to talk about . . . properly, if you're up for it."

Marceline rubbed her neck, slightly embarrassed at her forgetfulness. "Oh, _right._ Makes sense. Well if that's the case," she moved to her fridge and pulled two bottles of beer and a bowl from the bottom shelf, handing one to Bonnibel as she made herself comfortable on the other side of her kitchen's island, "we'll need these to help."

"Ah, Corona," Bonnibel noted, "good memories with this one."

Marceline laughed, stuffing a slice of lime into her bottle, Taylor following suit. "So when is this thing anyway?"

Bonnibel held up a finger as she took a drink of the limey alcohol before responding, "Mm, December 27th. About a month out from now."

"Shit, that's ironic," Marceline breathed, "our anniversary, huh?"

"Exactly what I said too when the date was announced. Fucking grand isn't it." Taylor took a long drink of her beer before letting out a loud sigh. " I was thinking some sort of purple or black colored dress for the dance, would that be too much? Also, you have whiskey here right?"

Marceline pointed to the counter behind her and slid a shot glass toward Bonnibel's side of the island "In that direction," she paused, "This . . . whiskey isn't going to lead to a round two from last night is it Bon?"

Taylor snickered as she returned, taking a shot straight from the bottle before sitting back down. "You know, to be honest, I'm surprised your drunk self didn't break a hip last night trying to take me to the couch," she smirked, allowing a slightly embarrassed Marceline to take the whiskey bottle for herself. "Either way Mar," Bonnibel continued, "even if it was our anniversary, and despite you not caring that much for dancing, I still think it'd be a fun thing to go to."

Marceline laughed at Bonnibel's comment while she pulled out her phone and swiped through her music to find the right song. She stood and moved toward her former, paying no mind to the alcohol left on the counter as she hit play. "Oh _please_ Bonnibel, you're not the only one who's changed for the better," she stated, gesturing for Bonnibel's hand. "May I?"

The young girl was left in surprise as she realized what song was playing over the speaker. ' _Holy shit.'_

" _Our_ song?"

Marceline smiled and helped pull her onto her feet. "How could I forget?" She pulled her former closer, placing one hand on the small of her back and intertwined her fingers with Bonnibel's own.

They swayed back and forth a few moments before Taylor spoke up again. "If I'm being completely honest here Mar, I've missed this."

Marceline shifted her feet and held her arm out to gently twirl Bonnibel around before pulling her back into her arms, holding her for a few moments. "Really?" She reset their position as she continued, "I thought I was the only one."

"Of course," Bonnibel responded as the song came to its end, "those late nights doing this exact thing, albeit your two left feet at the time, were always my favorite," she sighed, "God that feels like forever ago. I'm sorry I put you through all that bullshit." Marceline could see a few tears beginning to well up in Bonnibel's eyes.

She wiped them away before they had a chance to fall. "You stop Bon, that's in the past." Marceline placed a kiss on the young girl's forehead. "If I had known those five years apart would lead to this, I wouldn't have had it any other way."

 _Memories._ That's the word. Those memories of their countless fits of laughter and seemingly endless accidental missteps leading to stepped on toes flooded into Bonnibel's mind as she found herself ever closer to her former following their heartfelt moment seconds earlier.

She held Marceline's face and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear while the older of the two held Bonnibel by her hips and smiled. "Besides," Marceline continued, "I told you you'd always have my heart."

Taylor smiled and took this as her own opportunity to place a gentle kiss onto her former's lips, not wanting to pull away, but needing to speak. "You have _no_ idea how long I've been waiting to hear that Mar."

Marceline grinned as she took this opportunity to lift the young girl onto the counter behind her, causing Taylor to let out a small yelp of surprise and laughter. She planted a few butterfly kisses behind Bonnibel's ear and trailed kisses down her neck to her collar bone before pulling away. Marceline could feel Bonnibel's body start to relax as a feeling of warmth and desire overtook the both of them.

" _Oh,_ I think I know," she whispered breathily as she neatly traced the ink on Bonnibel's arm, sealing her notions with a final playful nibble to Bonnibel's ear lobe. Marceline chuckled to herself as she heard a small moan escape her former's lips.

"You _fucking tease_ _**Abadeer**_ ," Bonnibel began before their lips met again, this time in a more wanting manner. She found herself gently wrapping her legs around Marceline's hips, deepening their kiss as she did so.

Marceline smiled against Bonnibel's lips at the mention of her last name, something Taylor rarely called out, so she knew she was doing at least something right. She slipped her hands under Bonnibel's thighs to allow herself a tighter grip, and hastily lifted her off of the counter, balancing the young girl's figure onto her own hips.

"How fitting," Marceline stated, slipping Bonnibel's shirt off in one fell swoop, "as _this_ , my dear," she kissed her passionately, "is _just_ the beginning."

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, I'll admit: I may or may not have forgotten that this story existed for a few weeks (college is the devil sometimes I swear), but I'm back! Although, you can keep your torches and pitchforks cause I heard those can come in pretty handy during the apocalypse :D all jokes aside though, this ended up being completely different than what I had initially thought up and written. I was going to have the end of this chapter be some sort of flashback to what had happened following the events of last chapter (which if you haven't read the last one … what are you doing..GO READ IT! but then come back cause i'll miss you), but I came up with what you see here instead. I think this flows more naturally with the pace of the chapter and fits the two girls' character development better. I certainly hope the wait was worth it as I'm already thinking of and writing the next chapter as we speak, so the next installment shouldn't be too far off :) as always, any reviews, favorites, or follows are greatly appreciated and I'll see y'all next time. take care.**

 **-IV**

 **p.s: if you're wondering, just imagine _My Heart_ _I Surrender_** **by I Prevail playing during their little dance..**


	7. Chapter 6

_"Taylor! You're with CPL. Hampton on assembly and inventory. Be back by 1800."_

 _"Yes sir!"_

 _Bonnibel waited for their NCO to leave earshot before scoffing and turning to her friend_

 _"God, I swear he can be so strict when it comes to curfew."_

 _Daren smirked as they started walking to their assignment. "Well, we are soldiers Bon, so I don't necessarily blame him, but I do wish we had more freedom. I've been itching to get new ink while we're here."_

 _"At least he's smart to keep us together . . ." she sighed, "you on inventory again?"_

 _"Yep, like always. Who knew there were so many different kinds of gauze?"_

 _It's been four months since Bonnibel's deployment overseas in Germany. In a way she felt comfortable here occupying herself either counting medical supplies or assembling kits to go out into the field. She took it as her own way of distracting herself from what had happened roughly six months prior._

 _"Yeah, you're tellin' me. Two more months and we're home"_

* * *

Six A.M. Such an absurd hour of the morning. A groggy Marceline awoke to multiple notifications on her phone. ' _Good God, why are so many idiots up right now_ ,' she thought to herself. Not wanting to deal with all that mess, she decided to ignore those messages until she had a sounder mind.

Marceline rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over to her left to see a peacefully sleeping Bonnibel curled up underneath the sheets. Moving as quietly as she could, the older girl made her way to the kitchen, turning her television on at a lower volume to give some sort of company in the quiet apartment.

' _I guess the weather will be my friend this morning._ '

" . . . and here we're tracking a strong thunderstorm off to the west that will be arriving in our area later tonight; a chance of hail the size of quarters with wind gusts up to 45 mph possible. We understand that this kind of weather isn't common going into December, but we'll continue to track this storm in case anything changes. Stay tuned to Channel 12 for an update tonight at ten."

Marceline rolled her eyes as she started on some pancake mix and finally decided to check her phone now that she felt more cognitive. "Third storm this week. Jesus."

 **Finn: Yo Marceline! You're probs not up yet, but Jake and I were gonna go to the gym this morning if you wanna come and catch up you know?**

 **Jake: Whatever Finn tells you…it's true. dont get stabby, but come get ripped with us. Unless you and Taylor did that already…if you know what I mean;) let us know in 30 if you're up for it**

 _HA! good one jake -_- tell finn I'll meet y'all there in 20…have emts on standby in case I die,_ Marceline typed out all the while mentally slapping herself at how ridiculous her friends could be at times. She quickly finished off her plate of pancakes and took a protein shake from the fridge before heading out to spend the early morning hours with the boys. As a last-minute incentive, she left a note for Bonnibel in case the young girl, for whatever reason, worried about her.

 _went out with dumb and dumber to the gym for a change. IF you're hungry, there's some omelet stuff made up in the fridge (it's early, don't kill me). Text me when you're up. Xx -Mar._

With that, she switched off the television and went out to chase the sun.

* * *

 _"Do you really think we should be out like this?"_

 _Bonnibel and Daren were out on the streets of Bamberg completely past their curfew while a soft rain began to fall. Somehow Hampton was able to convince the generally obedient girl to go with him on this adventure._

 _"You and I both know we need new tattoos. Besides, you gotta admit, this fresh air is nice. You do not want to know the horrors of my side of the barracks."_

 _Taylor chuckled, "Haha, I'll take your word for it Hampton. So where are we headed?"_

 _"Vixen Tattoo. I looked it up a couple days ago, and they had some pretty good reviews. Plus, they take walk-ins, so I'm getting a lion for my dad back home in South Carolina."_

 _"Sounds like he means a lot to you," Bonnibel yawned, "I'm not sure what I'm going to get, too tired to think honestly."_

 _"Yeah," Daren sighed, "We . . . lost him to alcoholism a few weeks before I left for basic."_

 _"Shit, I'm sorry Daren," Bonnibel paused for a few moments, "that lion is going to be badass for sure."_

 _The rain began falling steadily as Daren spoke up again "You uh, you got anybody waiting for you at home? I mean," he chuckled awkwardly, "I'm sure you do but, you know, someone special. Sorry if that's a stupid question."_

 _"No," she reassured, continuing to walk to their destination, "It's okay. I . . . had someone. It's been about a year now, so I'm just hoping whoever she's got now is giving her the world like she did me." Bonnibel sighed deeply, tears stinging her eyes. "I wish I hadn't gone and fucked it all up."_

 _"Well I'll tell you this Bon," Hampton placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder. "If it's meant to be, it will be. Sounds like you really loved this girl."_

 _"Yeah," she smiled." I did . . . One can only hope, I guess. Thanks for the support."_

 _"Hey, anytime," Daren looked and saw they had made it to the shop, "come on, let's get inside before it gets bad."_

* * *

"Hampton, _please come back."_

She couldn't put her finger on it, but Bonnibel felt as if she were in an unfamiliar place, balling up the silken sheets that covered her in her hand as she jolted out of her dream state: a state that she was all too familiar with. Sighing deeply, Taylor rubbed the sleep from her eyes only to realize that her former was nowhere to be found. Rain was softly pattering against the bedroom window.

' _What?',_ she thought to herself, ' _where the fuck could she stand to go at 7:30 in the morning?'_

A small sense of worry began to overtake the young girl and so she grabbed her pocket knife that sat on the bedside table as an added precaution, returning it to where it belonged until necessary. "Mar? Please tell me you're still here!" Bonnibel vehemently changed into something more presentable and moved into the next few rooms, taking in every detail just in case this became a recurring event.

"If this is some kind of joke and you're hiding from me Marceline, I'll tell you right now it's not something you should do." That's when she noticed the note sitting on the kitchen counter. Bonnibel had just began to read it when she heard the front door click open. Turning on her heels, she drew her knife expecting an intruder, but was met with an absolutely mortified Marceline.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA," Marceline stated while she raised her hands, "it's . . . just me Bon, don't worry."

Shocked at what she had done, Bonnibel began to tremble, letting her knife drop to the floor before latching onto the older girl and engulfing her in tears.

"DON'T . . . don't you . . . don't you ever do that again MARCELINE!"

"Bon, I was just . . ." Marceline began, not knowing how to gauge her current situation, "are you alright?"

"NO! DO I LOOK ALRIGHT TO YOU?!" Bonnibel yelled through her sobs. Distant thunder could be heard from outside, causing the young girl to jump slightly and hold onto her former tighter, whimpering almost childishly into her shoulder as she did so.

"You. . . you don't," the older girl replied somberly as she reluctantly pulled away from their embrace, "but, if you need some time alone I can go and-"

"NO!" the young girl interjected, "no, please. That's the LAST thing I want you to fucking do," she mustered out, "just . . . give me a second." She took a deep breath before wiping her eyes and moving toward the wall adjacent to the kitchen island, and allowing herself to slide down it seemingly into a ball. Bonnibel held her head between her legs as she exhaled shakily before speaking again. "His . . . his name was Daren."

* * *

 **A/N- Forgive me. It's currently about 7 a.m. cst as I'm finishing this chapter and I'm just coming off of completing a ridiculously long paper for one of my classes, so I apologize in advance for any weird parts in this I don't currently see (if there are any, i'll fix them. if not, great xD). I figured I might as well stay up to finish this before trying to get some sleep since it was near completion anyway. This felt like a nicer, more appropriate segue into a proper explanation of Bonnibel's past in the military. This was also supposed to be longer, but what I have planned didn't exactly fit well enough to start/end with on this chapter. With that being said, prepare yourselves for a long ass wall of text in the next installment (hopefully in a good way of course). As always, any feedback, follows, or favorites are greatly appreciated . . . and maybe a prayer for my sanity as finals week is fast approaching o.o till then, see y'all next time. take care.**

 **-IV**


	8. Chapter 7

_"So, you're leaving logistics and headed to combat huh? I see how it is, abandoning me . . . gosh."_

 _Hampton and Taylor were seen sitting across from each other in the mess hall pretending to enjoy the day's entrée. Cheaper way of having a meal overseas, but God they wished it wasn't so tasteless._

 _"Oh, fuck off Daren," Bonnibel joked, "just be happy that if your ass gets shot, I'll be the one to save it. We're still technically together on deployment and it won't be official for another few months yet, so you have nothing to worry about."_

 _Daren smiled. "Good. That means I still get to annoy your ass and steal your trail mix when you're not looking," he paused, "- I mean, what?"_

 _Both burst into laughter before Taylor shoveled more bland rice that adorned her plate into her mouth, "Come on. Aiello wanted us to shoot hoops with him at the rec center downtown since we're off this weekend._

 _"Shit, little Aiello? Well, we better get our asses moving then; everyone and their mother knows not to keep him waiting."_

* * *

"But I thought Jake said- "

"Who gives a shit what Jake said, damn it! I only told him what he _wanted_ to hear." Bonnibel threw her head into her hands and breathed deeply as another roll of thunder followed by a shock of lightning made itself known outside the apartment.

Marceline paused for a moment while she closed the living room blinds, doing what she could to minimize her former's reactions. "So, you're telling me you've- "

" _Shot_ people?" Bonnibel interjected, "Trained on the ins and outs of one and how to shoot 'em, yes, and that's where my knife comes from too," she twirled her knife around her palm, "but thank fuck I never had to shoot anybody."

The older girl breathed a small sigh of relief as she moved into the kitchen. "Fuck, I can't imagine the shit you've seen Bonnibel." She grabbed a few things from her cabinets and prepared the young girl a bowl of cereal since she assumed Bonnibel hadn't had a proper chance to eat, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We're all taught like that, and we all do what we have to, especially when in the field. But it's fucking bullshit if you ask me." Bonnibel exhaled softly as she was handed the bowl of cereal Marceline made up for her.

Marceline gently sat beside her former as the rain began to fall steadily outside the window. "Storm wasn't supposed to hit until later tonight." She noticed that Bonnibel's hands were shaking as she ate. "I'm guessing this and you don't get along very well."

Taylor chuckled slightly at her former's lightheartedness. "Yeah, no," she breathed, "It's uh . . . it's definitely a thing now." Setting her bowl off to the side, Bonnibel moved forward enough to where she could lay down as comfortably as her mind would allow and shut her eyes for a few moments. "Sorry. I'm not very good at talking about this shit," she clarified, raising her hands above her torso as she spoke.

"Do these . . . reactions happen very often?"

"Usually only when the storms hit. Can still feel pretty shitty though otherwise."

"So, this comes from what you've seen?"

Bonnibel nodded. "And heard. Pretty crazy what a couple of explosives and bad experiences will do to you. It's like a constant battle in my head." She shifted her position and decidedly nestled into Marceline's torso as the storm continued on.

Marceline pulled her former in closer. "Well, for however long you want me around, you won't have to fight those battles alone." She placed a small peck on the top of Bonnibel's head and let her fingers intertwine with her own.

"You're truly a blessing Mar, you know that?" Taylor looked up to see Marceline smiling back at her. "I hate to admit it, but I thought of you way more often than I ever intended to while I was deployed. Could've sworn that was the only thing that kept me going some days," she paused, "well, that and Hampton and Aiello's ' _midnight specials'._ Those two probably couldn't boil water even if their lives depended on it."

"Sounds like quite the crew you have there," Marceline responded. She paused a moment, before speaking somberly. "What . . . exactly happened to them?"

Bonnibel held onto Marceline's hand tighter as she thought of a decent response, at least for the time being. "Aiello is still deployed, but Hampton . . ." she trailed off as tears began to fall heavily from her eyes. Marceline positioned herself behind her former and loosely wrapped her arms around the young girl to try to comfort her the best way she thought possible. "God Mar, forgive me."

* * *

" _Hampton, stay with me damn it!" Taylor demanded of her friend. She was scrambling to treat the multiple lacerations sustained to her comrade's torso._

" _I tried to tell 'em B, I really did. Those shitheads never listen," Daren joked through grunts of pain. "Couldn't have asked for a better medic to rescue me than you though."_

 _Bonnibel applied pressure to a larger gash across Hampton's abdomen in an attempt to stop most of the bleeding before pouring on antiseptic and wrapping it with gauze. However, she knew she had to do something to keep Hampton's mind off the pain. "Pure luck we got put on the same route, just shit that IED had to ruin all the fun, huh?"_

* * *

"We were well past Germany at this point maybe another year and a half since then, on our second deployment to God knows where. Somewhere in the fucking desert is all I can remember," Bonnibel stated, "Hampton and I were assigned on the same unit that day, his jeep was third in line, and our medical truck was fourth. We were mapping a new route that day and were on our way back to base when an IED . . . or two decided to go and fuck everything up."

Marceline paused for a second before responding. "IED?"

"Improvised . . . explosive device," Taylor somberly clarified, "sort of like a tripwire in a sense, but unlike some crazy Indiana Jones style booby trap, it blows up anything that comes in contact with it . . . like, in this case, our two leading supply trucks." She shut her eyes tight for a moment in an effort to stop the memory from presenting itself, or at least lessen its effects.

The older of the two nodded in understanding and brushed a stray hair from Bonnibel's face while she continued. "Hampton yelled for them to stop, but it was too late. In an instant, those trucks were blown to shit, and debris and fire littered the air."

"Fucking- "Marceline began, but was interrupted by a crash of thunder outside, to which Bonnibel heavily protested against. ". . . hell," She finished as she comforted her shaking former with a strong embrace and kiss to the cheek. "Deep breaths baby girl, I got you."

Bonnibel took a moment to herself, both to recollect her thoughts and somewhat process what her former had just called her. She made a mental note of that, and followed Marceline's advice before delving back into her story. "After that, it felt like I went into a blind rage. One minute I'm screaming for my now fallen comrades, and the next I'm at Hampton's side, hands covered in his blood." Bonnibel tensed up at the images that flashed before her eyes. "GOD . . . DAMN IT HAMPTON!" Bonnibel yelled through gritted teeth, lurching forward as she spoke. Marceline couldn't help but shed a few tears of her own while witnessing the state her former's experiences had put her in.

Taylor laid on her back in silence for a few seconds before speaking again. "Both the shockwave and shrapnel from the explosion hit what was left of our unit, but that didn't matter. In that moment, I was focused on saving the people I cared about."

* * *

" _Reinforcements?" Hampton asked weakly. "I'm perfectly fine Bon! It's just a few scratches! Why would – " he coughed. A small amount of blood began to trickle down his chin. "Why would we need those?"_

 _Bonnibel was hesitant to respond for a moment, but knew she had to say something. "It's . . . not good Daren. You have two lacerations to the chest, and a deep one here by your abdomen. That's not even counting the internal damage you have from the shock either. What I've done should hold you till the medevacs come on scene. After that, it's out of my control."_

 _Hampton shakily reached up to wipe a tear from Bonnibel's cheek. "Straightforward as ever B, I've always admired that about you." Taylor flashed a small smile at her friend when she heard a fleet of medevac helicopters overhead._

 _A group of specialists rushed to Bonnibel's side, moving quickly to assess Hampton's injuries and get him the proper attention he needed as soon as possible. Taylor found herself nearly running alongside her comrade's stretcher. She noticed Daren's eyes were beginning to close. "Fight it Hampton, please," Taylor said to herself quietly. As if hearing her words, he reached a hand to her moments before being loaded into the helicopter. "I'M HERE Hampton, I'm here."_

 _Using what little strength he had left, Daren pulled the young girl in close. "Win her back for me when you get home." He weakly flashed a thumbs up in her direction to reassure his friend that he'd be okay. All Bonnibel could do now was hope and pray._

* * *

"I TRIED MAR! I REALLY FUCKING TRIED! His blood loss was just TOO MUCH . . ." Bonnibel screamed, "I couldn't do it on my own anymore." She broke away from Marceline and buried her head deep into her hands. The older girl allowed her former a few moments to herself before speaking up.

"Hey, hey hey," Marceline spoke softly, "that's what matters Bonnibel. You made sure Daren got the attention he needed and that he was in good hands."

Bonnibel took a deep breath and turned to face her former. "I DON'T CARE! WHY DOES IT MATTER IF I'LL PROBABLY NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN!" She sobbed out, "I spent weeks where I didn't want anything to do with anyone or any fucking thing. I felt so dead not seeing his smile, or hearing his stupid ass jokes every morning at PT. He was my first friend in the force. I just, I don't even know where he went after that day, or even if . . ." she sighed, "even if he made it out alive," she trailed off on her words as tears flowed steadily from her eyes. "Contact afterwards was nearly impossible, and I've had to live with that depressing fact ever since." Bonnibel stood and began pacing the apartment floor in an effort to calm down, toying with her knife on occasion.

Marceline continued to watch Taylor's distressed state from the floor. "Listen, I might not have known him in the way you did Bonnibel, but if he's even got half the spirit you do, then I'm certain he was strong enough to pull through."

The young girl stopped for a moment after hearing Marceline's response before moving to the living room window and opening the blinds. She looked out in hopes that it would ease her mind more. The rain was light at this point and small streaks of light were beginning to peak through the clouds. After a minute or two, she looked back to see Marceline moving to get her blanket off of the couch and wrapping it around her shoulders before embracing Bonnibel from behind.

"Everything gets so scrambled in my mind nowadays that I don't ever realize how much this shit has affected me until I get to talking about it like that, and even that's rare of me to do." Taylor paused to collect her thoughts before continuing. "I appreciate you standing to listen to me talk Mar," She moved to return the older girl's embrace, "thank you."

Marceline smiled at the young girl as she pulled away. "And I appreciate you having the courage to talk about those experiences. What you're going through is nothing to be ashamed of. You are a soldier who's seen some tough shit, you are a _graduate student_ working hard every damn day to fulfill her dreams; _the_ strongest, smartest, most selfless woman I've ever known," she paused a moment to move a stray hair behind Bonnibel's ear before continuing, "but most importantly, you are Bonnibel fucking Taylorand I am so damn proud of the woman you've become."

"But, I don't . . . Mar," Bonnibel replied somberly, slightly taken aback at what she was just told. "Jesus. What if I'm none of those things? What If I stay a mess like this forever? What if -" She looked away as a small tear trailed its way down her cheek, feeling as if her response disappointed her former.

Marceline saw this and, without hesitation, wiped away Bonnibel's tears, holding her closely before deciding to close the gap between them with a kiss.

"Bonnibel Elise," Marceline stated quietly as she pulled away, "that doesn't matter to me. I love you for _you,_ and I will always be here, by your side, no matter how many obstacles we face, or how scrambled our journey gets."

Bonnibel couldn't help but chuckle at the older girl's words. " _Love? We? Our_ journey?" She questioned, "What are you - God Marceline, I swear if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to steal my heart again."

" _And?_ What if I am?" The older girl asked inquisitively. "Are you saying it's working?" She smiled widely. At this, Taylor playfully punched Marceline's shoulder before intertwining her fingers with her own.

" _Shut up, Abadeer,"_ Bonnibel responded meekly before closing the gap between them once more with her own, more passionate, kiss.

Marceline smiled against Taylor's lips, pulling away only for a moment to admire the woman in front of her.

"Welcome home, baby girl."

* * *

 **A/N- Yes, welcome home . . . thanks for sticking with me y'all.**

 **as always, reviews, follows, favorites are greatly appreciated. Till next time.**

 **-IV**


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